Senseless
by Crazy Sunshine Hikaru
Summary: At first glance, the girl wasn't very special. Just a regular girl. But Tatsuya noticed something about her. Something that he couldn't put his finger on. Something different from everyone else. Something extraordinary. Very much AU
1. Caught in the Act

Finally! I upload a Whistle! fic. This one's slightly AU. Instead of taking place in Japan, this takes place in Toronto because I have a sudden infatuation with Canada. More will be explained in later chapters (hopefully). Leave a review please.

Disclaimer: Own Whistle I do not. If I did, I wouldn't be posting fan fiction about it on the net. It would just be....fiction. Evangeline/Rei is mine, though. Steal her and I will find you and plant a horse head in your bed on Christmas Eve. Don't think I won't!

**Senseless**

**Caught in the Act**

I don't know why I noticed her. At first glance she didn't seem like anything special, aside from being a little short. Light brown hair, thick rimmed glasses. Beat up jeans and scruffy tennis shoes. Not much unlike other girls our age. The only thing was that she was so quiet. So deathly quiet. I could barely hear her breathe.

We both sat in the guidance office, me twiddling my thumbs, her scanning the room constantly. It made me nervous because she acted like she was expecting something to happen. A fight or something. While on the lookout for any bit of commotion she plucked at the loose threads of her jeans. Once or twice I caught eye contact with her. Clear, piercing green – a pretty color for her. Her skin was pale and she wore long sleeves even though it was early September. Abuse? Cutting herself? Just ran out of clean clothes? Who knows. It's not like it's my business anyway.

"Evangeline, Mr. Ballantine will see you now," Ms. O'Brien announces. Hm. We have the same counselor.

Taking one last nervous sweep around the office, Evangeline stands up and hesitantly walks into Ballantine's office. I can hear the low murmur of his voice through the heavy wood door, but when he pauses to let Evangeline speak, there's nothing but silence. I can only hear the scratchy transmission of the hand radios and the taka-taka-taka of Ms. O's keyboard. My English teacher, Ms. Tartaglia, passes by, carrying a stack of papers fresh from the printer, flouncing in her dangerously short "business" skirt. Right by me. Close enough for me to catch a whiff of her perfume and very nearly sneak a peek.

"Hello, Tatsuya. How are you?" She offers me a friendly smile, and I grin back stupidly.

"I'm fine, Ms. Tartaglia." I'm probably drooling. In fact, I know I am. But this woman is like a goddess among teachers. "And you?"

"I'm lovely. Thank you for asking. What are you in here for?"

"I'm waiting on my new schedule," I answer, still grinning. In the back of my mind, though, I'm hoping I don't make a fool out of myself by getting stiff in the guidance office.

"Oh. Hopefully you'll still be in my English class." Another brilliant smile. My mouth dries up. My fingers are restless. My eyes are dying to look down at her legs again. Perfectly smooth. Perfectly shaped. God knows I'd love to strip her down to nothing and then –

"Tatsuya, Mr. Ballantine will see you now," Ms. O's irritated squawk shatters my fantasy before it has a chance to start. I stand up, and Rei brushes past me silently. It was less than a second, but her eyes met mine, cold lime green, and I felt like she could read every scattered and disconnected thought in my mind. Every image of Ms. Tartaglia in various states of undress, practically giving herself to me. All the lust that had bottled up inside of me subsided and was replaced by guilt.

_You're just like the rest of the pretty boys, aren't you?_

_

* * *

_

With my schedule rectified so that I wasn't in all honors classes (I dropped world history), I went to lunch, then English. Once again Ms. Tartaglia flashed me a friendly smile, making me feel special. To my surprise, when I sit down, I realize that Evangeline is in this very class, a few seats down from me. She was just always so silent. I never heard her talk. Ever.

"Alright, class." Ms. Tartaglia quickly catches the class's attention when the bell rings, and the few stragglers shuffle to their seats. "I believe you have poems due today. Please take them out." Picking up her grade book, Ms. Tartaglia circles the room, marking down who had the poem and who didn't. My neatly typed copy sits on top of my books for all to see, but it doesn't quite invoke the reaction from my teacher that I thought it would. Rather than praise me, she just looks over it, nods, and writes down my completion points in her book, leaving me dejected and staring at her perfectly round butt. Does she know what she's doing to every guy in this class? To me? All I can think about is how much I'd love it if just a few more buttons on her blouse were undone. I wouldn't mind taking the liberty of undoing them myself – maybe unbuttoning her shirt all the way. Why not? I'm sure she wouldn't mind. In fact, she might even egg me on, leading me into a kiss. A french kiss at that. My hands gravitate toward her ass and slowly creep up her skirt, preparing to pull down her panties just to find that she isn't wearing any!

"Tatsuya..." Her voice is barely above a dangerous whisper. I kiss her again, but she's resisting me.

"Tatsuya!"

I must have jumped at least an inch or two out of my chair. The whole class is staring at me, Shige snickering behind his notebook. I look at Evangeline, and her face is nearly emotionless. I look at Ms. Tartaglia, and she looks rather annoyed.

"I'm sure you'd like to read your poem to the class, wouldn't you?" If it wasn't so hard for me to deny her, I'd have said no, but she put me on the spot. Sheepishly, I walk up to the front of the class with my sheet in hand. She leans against the edge of her desk and nods at me. Clearing my throat, I look down at my printed page and read. It's nothing special, really. Just some lyrics I threw together a while ago, actually. Only Shige knows this melody-less song. I was kind of thinking about Ms. Tartaglia when I wrote it. When I finish, the class claps and I return to my seat, slightly red. Normally, reading something aloud to the class isn't embarrassing, but considering I just made an ass out of myself and this actually has some personal meaning to me, I think it's understandable. When Ms. Tartaglia isn't looking, Shige shows me a crude drawing he scribbled into his notebook of me and Ms. T...sitting in a tree. It's my turn to flip him the bird, and Ms. Tartaglia calls on more people to read their poems aloud. A lot of them suck.

"Rei, please read your poem to the class."

Evangeline stands up, flipping to a page in her notebook that's covered in lines of text and crossed out sections. The entire class is silent as she takes her time looking over the page before walking up towards the whiteboard.

_Someone tell me who I am, 'cause I don't think I know__  
Someone tell me who I am and where I ought to go__  
I've been waiting a long time for you to come along  
I've been waiting a long time to hear you play that same old song__  
That same old song on your guitar__No matter if you're near or far  
__I hear it__  
I hear it  
__I feel it  
I feel it  
I want it  
I want you to come and take me away  
I want it  
I want to know that you're really here to stay_  
'_Cause if you leave one more time  
I just might die  
I just might die  
I'm giving my all to you  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
If you can hear my shattered screams  
Let me know  
Just let me know_

The class applauds as a whole, Evangeline/Rei takes her seat, and Ms. Tartaglia stands behind her podium, getting ready to lecture us on the grammatical half of the day's lesson. Rei returns to being her invisible self. The only difference is that this time I notice her.

* * *

After school I wait for Shige by his locker. We usually meet up before soccer practice and he gets homework assignments from me. While I'm waiting, I see Rei again. Her hair and shoulders are soaked, and she looks ready to cry. Cautiously, I approach her and gently touch her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" It's obvious that she's not, but there's no harm in asking.

If she answered me, I couldn't hear her because Shige shouted at me from down the hallway at that very moment, and his voice overpowers hers any day. I turn around and Rei escapes me, breaking out into a sprint. I want to chase after her and find out what happened, but Shige drags me to his locker and bullies the homework assignments out of me.

_So you're not blind like everyone else. You see me. But can you hear me? Can you hear all the fucked up thoughts inside my head?_

For a second I thought I heard her softspoken voice say that to me, but it must be my imagination.


	2. Rumor Has It

**Rumor Has It...**

"Isn't she so weird? She's just sitting there all by herself!"

"Why is she wearing that hoodie this early in the year? She has to be burning up."

"Maybe she cuts herself!"

"Poor little emo kid! No one wants to be her friend!"

My sandwich sticks to the roof of my mouth as I listen to the girls behind me ruthlessly laugh at Rei's expense. It makes my blood boil, but what on earth could _I_ say to them to make them stop? It's not even my place. As they pointed out, Rei is sitting by herself, sipping quietly on chocolate milk and staring down at the table. She regularly glances around her to make sure no one's coming. Like someone's going to jump her or something.

"She deserves it." Jamie Hammond's voice rises above the others'. "She's a back stabber and a slut. It's her fault she's alone over there, always writing in that same old notebook."

"What did she do, Jamie?"

"She stole my date for the Sadie Hawkins dance last year." Her voice drips with disdain, and I turn around to see her waving her hand in Rei's direction dismissively. The other girls squeal in disgust, muttering obscenities. "She sleeps around a lot, too. She's got all kinds of STDs."

"Who told you that?"

"An eleventh grader. She told me that Rei tried to steal her boyfriend."

The expression on Rei's face darkens. She can definitely hear them laughing and bad mouthing her. She bites her lip, and it looks like she's ready to cry.

"Tatsubon!"

"Bwuh!" I sputter in surprise when Shige bangs on the table. "What?"

"You're spacin' out, dude!"

"So?" I take another reluctant bite out of my lunch. "What do you want?"

"Last night's algebra homework, that's what I want."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You didn't say please." I try focusing my attention back on Rei.

"Tatsubon!"

"What?! And don't call me that!"

"Yeesh, I didn't know you were on your man period." I glare at him, and he shrinks back a bit. "What's with you and Rei, anyway?"

"Nothing," I mumble.

"Are you suuure? You sure are staring at her a lot."

"Positive."

"HIV positive?"

"...Are you going to annoy the hell out of me until I give you my homework?"

"Ayup." Irritated, I slide my algebra notebook over to him, and he flips it open to last night's assignment and copies it down. "Seriously, though. You think something's up with her?"

"I don't know." Sighing, I take a swig of soda and pause for a moment.

"She's awfully quiet," Shige comments. "I've never heard her speak without being called on before."

"Maybe she just likes keeping to herself."

The girls erupt in another fit of cruel laughter, and I can see that Rei's hands are clenched into fists so tight her knuckles are white. If she keeps this up she'll cut her palms open with her nails.

"Watch this!" Jamie's chair scrapes against the tile as she stands up with a water bottle in her hand. "This ought to cool off that hot head of hers." She walks up behind Rei, who turns around just in time for the mouth of the bottle to tip towards her face and drench her in purified water. She scrambles to pick up her books and run away, and Jamie says good bye by tossing the now empty bottle at her head. It hits. Several tables watch, including mine, as Jamie returns to her flock of sheeple, who are in awe. They shower her with admiration, and my ham sandwich fights to come back up. Within two minutes tops everyone else returns to their previous conversations, and I find myself fighting the urge to follow her.

"Wow. Women can be scary, no?" Shige's jaw is dropped. I bite my lip. "What do you think she did that pissed them off?"

At that very moment, Sho enters the cafeteria and shuffles his short self over to our table. His books shake the table when he puts them down.

"Sorry I'm late. My chemistry teacher kept me after class."

"How're you doing in that class?" I ask, not really interested.

"If things keep going the way they are, he'll have to give me a T."

"A T?"

"For 'Travesty.'" Sho slumps into a chair next to Shige. "So what did I miss?"

"A lesson on female social patterns." Shige pretends to sound studious and smart. "We witnessed what happens when a lesser female encroaches on a greater female's territory."

"What happened?"

"She got chased out after some bitch dumped her water bottle over her head."

"Who?"

I jab my head in Jamie's direction. She's looking very smug.

"You have the worst timing, Pup. You could have seen it if you'd scamper down from Bauer's room faster. Slowpoke."

"At least it was just water..." I say it mostly to myself, but the others hear it.

"Yeah, man. Imagine if it was that chocolate milk. That'd suck." Shige passes my notebook back. "If that was me, and she poured _anything_ on my head, I'd beat her _ass_." He pounds his fist into his palm. "I take too much pride in my hair to let someone do that." Sho chuckles as Shige shakes his head to show off his bleached hair."Nuh-uh, girlfriend! Ain't nothin' touchin' this hair!" We all bust out laughing.

* * *

In English, Rei didn't show up.

* * *

After school, as Shige and I headed down to the soccer pitch, we saw Rei by the bike racks. Her hair had dried off, but it was no longer straight. It had turned into a coke addict within a few hours. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and even though it was warm outside she was trembling.

"Are you okay?" I call out to her. She looks straight at me with wide, pained eyes, and nods. Without really thinking, I run over to her. "I noticed you weren't in English today." Rei shrugs. "Shige and I saw what happened at lunch today."

_Yeah, you and everyone else._

"So..?" her voice cracked.

"So...I thought I'd see if you were alright." My face flushes.

_Isn't it obvious?_

"I'm fine," she mutters, running away.

"But wait!" I shout after her, but she's gone.

* * *

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter, but I figure it's getting somewhere. I kind of think I haven't captured the spirit of our boys yet, but I'm getting there. It's not like your run of the mill Whistle! fic, now is it? Any opinions would be appreciated. Updates will be slow going until I can get my computer fixed. Until then, I'll be uploading during my studyhall. -sadfaces-


	3. Viral

**Viral**

That night I sat at my computer, toggling between chemistry homework and surfing, with Holmes underneath my desk to keep my feet warm. Shige sent me links to pointless videos. I click on them, watch them, and then do a few chemistry problems. Then I check my email, answer another problem, and check for updates on a few websites. Repeat. Then I move on to algebra once chem is done. Desiree from my French class starts up a conversation:

_StarGirl96: hey wat's up?  
LarukuFan: nm just homework  
StarGirl96: oh. sucks.  
LarukuFan: yeah  
StarGirl96: wanna see something hilarious?  
LarukuFan: sure_

I click the link she sent, which opened up a blog in my window. The latest post has three pictures of Rei: one before lunch where she's sitting in class with her head extremely low, one during lunch where Jamie's dumping water on her head, and one after lunch with her hair curling up like a poodle's. My stomach flips.

_LarukuFan: Is that Rei?  
StarGirl96: yeah! isn't it funny?  
LarukuFan: ...who took those pictures?  
StarGirl96: idk one of jamie's friends i guess_

Returning to my browser, I scroll down the page to see more humiliating pictures of Rei. It's sick some of the shots these people took. In one, Rei fell down the stairs while wearing a skirt. In another, her hair, which was then light brown, had been destroyed with spray paint, and bottles of soda had been dumped on her head. I was about to go back to talking to Desiree about it when Shige interrupts me with another message:

_GO Shige GO: did u see this?  
LarukuFan: Dessie showed me. It's brutal.  
GO Shige GO: sick even  
GO Shige GO: it explains a lot_

_Sho then butts in in another conversation window.  
Sho-Down: shige showed me that link  
Sho-Down: what should we do? show a teacher maybe?  
LarukuFan: Dunno. We could try, but I doubt they'd do much  
Sho-Down: isn't there a policy against this stuff?  
LarukuFan: Yeah but it basically solves nothing  
LarukuFan: It happened before with a kid in my bio class last year  
LarukuFan: she ended up moving away_

I pause for a minute, mulling over this development, then I switch back to the window with Dessie.

_LarukuFan: Why does everyone bully Rei like this?  
StarGirl96: cuz no one likes her  
LarukuFan: ....WHY does no one like her?  
StarGirl96: dunno. it's mostly just jamie  
StarGirl96: i used to be friends with both of them and they got into a fight  
StarGirl96: they hate each other now  
LarukuFan: What'd they fight over?  
StarGirl96: jamie says rei lied to her about going out with some guy she liked behind her back  
LarukuFan: what did Rei say?  
StarGirl96: idk  
LarukuFan: Were you sitting with Jamie at lunch today?  
StarGirl96: yeah, i saw the whole thing  
LarukuFan: was any of the stuff she said about her true?  
StarGirl96: idk  
StarGirl96: probly not a lot of it  
LarukuFan: And you're on Jamie's side?  
StarGirl96: yeah_

Something about what Desiree's saying bothers me.

_LarukuFan: Shige  
GO Shige GO: tatsubon  
LarukuFan: Screw you  
GO Shige GO: sorry, man  
GO Shige GO: i don't swing that way  
LarukuFan: Whatever.  
LarukuFan: Dessie's not making a whole lot of sense  
GO Shige GO: she's an airhead. what do you expect?  
LarukuFan: No, I mean about Rei.  
GO Shige GO: what difference does it make?  
LarukuFan: A big one. She used to be friends with Rei.  
GO Shige GO: so? why are you so interested?  
LarukuFan: it's bothering me  
LarukuFan: You saw what they did to her?  
GO Shige GO: yeah  
GO Shige GO: and i don't wanna make it my business  
GO Shige GO: besides, women are scary_

A knock on my door interrupts my frantic IM session. Mom opens the door and slips her head inside. I quickly open a Word window to make it look like I was working.

"Doing homework, Tacchan?"

"Yeah."

"Dinner's ready. I'll bring a plate up to you."

"Thanks, Okaasan."

She leaves and returns a few minutes later with a bowl of rice and a plate of chicken. As soon as she closes my door, I bring up the conversation window with Sho.

_LarukuFan: Shige thinks I'm wasting my time worrying about it  
Sho-Down: why?  
LarukuFan: 'cause it's not really our business, I guess  
LarukuFan: I don't know. I don't wanna leave it at that  
Sho-Down: me either  
Sho-Down: you think we should show the principal this blog?_

I get up to retrieve my dinner and sit back down at my desk when another message pops up in Dessie's window.

_StarGirl96: hit refresh on that page_

Clicking back to my web browser and hitting refresh, I see another post has been made to the blog. There's another, more grotesque photo – this time of Rei's arms. She's on a bathroom floor with her hands pinned down by someone else's foot, and dozens of cuts like zebra stripes are revealed on her forearms. Some of them have white scar tissue while others are fresh and bleeding. There's a bloody razor next to her. Suddenly I can't eat.

_LarukuFan: That's fucking awful! Who took that?  
StarGirl96: idk but jamie's the one standing on her hands_

A big part of me wants to ask her if she's still on Jamie's side. If she still finds this funny. But I don't. Instead, I ignore her and try to finish algebra homework.

* * *

That night my old man called me. Recently Mom has talked him into being more involved with my life and taking a greater interest in me – and not where soccer is concerned. He asks me about school and friends and how things are going at home. Things he obviously doesn't want to hear about. He just feels obligated to hear me, probably because if he doesn't Mom will heckle him into high hell. He said I should visit on Sunday because there was someone he needed me to meet. Someone special. I don't like where he's taking this, but I don't get much say in it. It's not like I'm living with him (thankfully).

"I'd like you to meet my fiancée," he said. I nearly dropped the phone.

"Your what?"

"My fiancé. Her name is Ayako."

"How old is she?"

"Why does it matter, Tatsuya?"

"Because it'd be weird if you're engaged to someone half your age. Someone who could be my sister or something."

"Well..." He's hesitating. That's not good. "She's child birthing age." Fuck. It's not surprising, though. I can't be the son he wants, so he's shooting for another. Fine. "Does that bother you, Tatsuya?"

"Will it make you change your mind if I said yes?"

"Of course not," he scoffs.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway. You never care about what I think."

"Tatsuya, don't start this."

"I'm not starting anything. I'm just saying you've never really cared about my opinion. It was always what _you_ thought and what _you_ wanted!" I'm actually a little surprised at how much my voice raised. "Nothing I ever said made a difference to you."

"...You had a bad day, didn't you?"

"It's that easy to tell?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. Care to talk about it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're only asking at Mom's request." I hear a sigh on the other end of the line. "I'll be fine, old man."

"Alright, then. I'll see you Sunday."

"I never agreed to meeting with you."

"Does it make a difference whether or not you agreed?"

We both force a laugh and say goodbye. I collapse on my bed, thinking to myself that I'll finish my French homework before class starts in the morning and eventually slide into unconsciousness.

_Why are you so interested in me?_

_

* * *

_Chapter three! Hooray! I had a lot of fun coming up with screen names for Tatsuya, Sho, and Shige. -grins happily- Many thanks go out to Phoenixofdarkness6263 for reviewing. I appreciate it greatly.


	4. Snitching

**Snitching**

Once again I find myself sitting in the office (main, not guidance), waiting for the principal to get off of his inflated bum and see me. I've got the logs I printed out in one of my folders, and each time I lick my lips nervously I can taste the salt. I'm definitely taking a risk here.

"Tatsuya, the principal will see you now."

Hesitating, I stand up, thumb through my logs, and walk into the principal's office like I'm walking the green mile. I push the door open and see Mr. Flint adjusting his glasses and scrolling through something on his laptop. I clear my throat and uneasily lower myself into a hard plastic chair in front of his desk.

"Ah, Mr. Mizuno!" He says my name _Mih-zoo-noh_ instead of _Me-zoo-noh_. It irks me, but I don't call him out. "I just talked to your father over the weekend. Getting married, is he?"

"Yes." And if you have time to come up with schmoozing topics, you have time to learn how to say my name properly. "But that's not what I'm hear to talk to you about, Mr. Flint."

"But of course. It has to be something important."

Get your lips off of my ass, please.

"I wanted to talk to you about something that's been bothering me."

"Oh? What is it, my boy?"

"I wanted to talk to you about some...bullying that's been going on."

Mr. Flint puckers his lips and his face turns white. Bullying is one of those things that people in pretend positions of power don't like hearing of. Because once it reaches the people who _do_ matter, it could mean lawsuits. Job loss. Other things that make principals shake in their well-shined dress shoes.

"Close the door, would you, Tatsuya?"

I slip out of my chair and quickly push the heavy door shut. Flint waits until I sit back down before he continues.

"Now, what seems to be the matter, my boy? Has someone been bullying you? I find it improbable, a kid as popular as you, but if someone's harassing you – "

"It's not me, Mr. Flint. It's someone I know."

"As it always is." He chuckles nervously. "So, this is a friend of yours? What's going on with him?"

"Her. She's being bullied to the extreme, both at school and on the internet. I want to know if there's anything that can be done."

"O-oh..." Flint twiddles his thumbs and I can see sweat forming on his shiny bald head.

"Someone's been taking humiliating pictures of her and posting them on the Net, sir. And just the other day someone dumped a bottle of water on her head."

"Just who are you talking about, Tatsuya?"

"Evangeline Mitsurugi," I say after inhaling deeply.

"She's the one doing all of this?"

"No! She's the one being bullied!" Frantically, I pull out my evidence and throw it onto the desk. "The chat log is between me and one of Rei's former friends."

"Rei?"

"That's what Evangeline likes to go by."

Mr. Flint's face is twisted with disbelief. He doesn't want to believe what I'm saying. He wants me to be wrong, and I wish I was. The fact is, though, what I'm sitting on is undeniable. There's no ignoring this. He carefully looks over my logs and the photos.

"Who is this talking in this log?"

"LarukuFan is me, and StarGirl96 is Desiree Chezric." I chew on my lower lip nervously.

"And Jamie mentioned in these logs...?"

"Jamie Hammond."

"Hmm...I'll look into it, Tatsuya, but I can't guarantee I can do anything." Setting the papers down, he folds his hands almost pleading with me. "If I can make heads or tails of what you've given me, and this leads to something, I'll let you know. I promise you." What? The address is right there! You could just check out the blog right now! Why are you putting this off to the side?

"Alright, Mr. Flint."

"Do understand that while we don't condone this kind of thing, only so many things are under the school's jurisdiction. Does that make sense?"

Yes, it does. It means you really don't want to dirty your hands with this. Getting involved is dangerous.

"I honestly do care about this. I'm not just cowering, here."

Yes you are.

"I'll discuss this with you later. Tell your father I said hi."

Fat chance of that message reaching him.

Distressed, I pick up my folder and leave. I don't respond when one of the nicer secretaries says hi to me, and I'm in such an angry rush that I nearly run into three different people. Sometimes I wish I could clear a path right down the crowd of people that gets in my way like Moses parting water.

Walking home after soccer practice, Rei approaches me for once. She looks _very_ pissed – much like how I felt earlier. I start to say hi to her when she's within talking distance, but she cuts me off and grabs me by the collar of my shirt.

"What the hell is your problem?!" she screams into my face. It's a little surprising how strong such a small girl is. "I told you I didn't want _or_ need your fucking help!"

"Easy! Easy!" Carefully, I pry her hands off of me. "What did you expect me to do? Just sit back and be quiet?"

"Yes! I expected you to leave me alone and mind your own damn business like everyone else! Thanks to you I now have to listen to some counselor with her own issues ask me nosy questions and pull me out of class when I'm already falling behind!" Her eyes are wild with fury, and her hair is a little stringy.

"Sorry for trying to be a decent person, yeesh." Now I understand _why_ people torment you so. You brought it upon yourself, you lunatic! You have serious problems. "What the hell _is_ your problem, anyway? Why do you hate people so much?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't necessarily get along all that well with people," Rei spits. "It's easier if they leave me alone and I leave them alone."

"Even if they try to help you? Try to be nice to you?"

"Yes."

"Even if they don't have any ulterior motives?"

"Don't be naive. No one ever does anything that doesn't help them, whether it be short term or long term."

"I see." I take a moment to think over what she's said. "You have a pretty depressing outlook on things."

"Well, everything up 'til now has been pretty fricken depressing." I find myself chuckling even though I shouldn't be. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

"N-nothing...it's just..."

"_What?!_"

"You're kinda cute when you throw a tantrum."

....Wait.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

I did not just say that aloud...did I?

"Ooooh." Rei is seething now, and her face is bright red. At the same time, I'm blushing slightly. "You are such a jerk!" Turning on her heel, she storms off. This time, though, she isn't getting away.

"Hey, hold on a minute! I didn't mean to say that!" I shout after her, following with my soccer bag weighing me down.

"Yeah? Well you're not going to smooth talk me and put me over like the other girls!"

"Wait, what other girls?!" I think I'm really starting to hate her. "Look, I'm not trying to romance you or anything because I think I can get any girl I want. And even if I was, you would _not_ be my first pick."

Stopping abruptly, Rei's head whips around, her hair following behind.

"So you're saying I'm ugly?"

"W-what? No! No, no, no, I'm not. You're actually quite pretty, just like a lot of other girls."

"I'm _not_ like other girls," Rei growls.

"Well, you're certainly acting like them."

"...What did you say?"

"I said you're acting like them." My voice regains steadiness. I'm about to hit home with her. "You're being difficult and touchy and nothing anyone says to you is right."

"It's not my fault you're an idiot," she snaps.

"And it's not my fault that you hate the world."

Frustrated, Rei huffs and puffs and...calms down?

"Fine."

"Huh?"

"I said fine. What do you want?"

"To be honest...I don't know. I'm still trying to get over the fact that this is the most I've heard you talk. Ever. I didn't think I'd ever get you to really talk to me, arguing or otherwise."

A thoughtful expression wipes over Rei's face, and she takes a moment to answer me.

"Well, then. I guess I'll talk to you later then...you have the same lunch period as me, right?"

"Mmhm."

"I'll see you then, I guess. 'Bye!"

Once again I'm left standing alone, dumbfounded. I honestly don't know what happened. Did I just make friends with her?

* * *

She's crazy, isn't she? Well, to be fair I don't think anyone's sane, but hey. Written to the awesome sounds of Daft Punk and Utada Hikaru. Many thanks again to Phoenixofdarkness6263 for reviewing. I'm glad you like this fic. It means a lot to me when someone likes my writing. I kinda feel bad because I'm neglecting my Phoenix Wright fic, but until I get the muse for it again, it will have to sit on the back burner for now. I've got too many ideas for Senseless right now.


	5. Speak

**Speak**

Ayako is pretty. Painfully pretty. Long, light brown hair that falls to her waist and shines in sunlight – kind of like a doll's. Her eyes are clear and bright, smiling in a motherly way. And she's young. So young. Too young for my old man. Without even trying, she makes my Mom look like an old hag. It's unfair, really.

"I hope you don't mind that your father and I are getting married, Tatsuya." Ayako's voice is gentle and encouraging, like a kindergarten teacher's. She could say anything to you at all, like the Earth is flat or Aretha Franklin isn't black, and you'd be compelled to believe her. Very sincere. I'd almost be willing to accept her as my stepmother if I didn't suspect that Dad chose her partly to make Mom squirm. It would make sense; Mom hasn't dated anyone since my father. I feel responsible just a little bit because I'm part of the reason why she never did. When I was younger I didn't like the thought of any other man in our lives. And if Mom can't move on in her love life, I don't think Dad should be able to, either.

"You're a well behaved boy, aren't you?" She says it like I'm nine. "Your father tells me that you're a talented soccer player and an excellent student. He has high hopes for you becoming a professional." Too bad for Dear Old Dad that I'm plotting to defy his wishes.

"Yeah, but the boy can be an idiot at times," Dad grumbles.

"I wonder who I get it from," I love you too, cranky old coot.

Ayako laughs a fluttery laugh and takes a sip from her iced tea. The three of us are sitting at an (expensive) outdoor café, and I need something to distract me from the unlikely lovebirds. I mostly keep eating and drinking whatever's on the table to keep from having to talk so much. It's really freaking awkward.

"So, do you like school, Tatsuya?" No.

"It's alright. I mean, it's school after all."

"Do you have a lot of friends at school?"

"Sort of." Most of them aren't really friends. I get on well with the soccer team, but most everyone else only likes me for my looks and popularity. Not because I'm working to end world hunger or anything.

"I bet you've got a lot of girls following you, huh?"

By this point I know to shrug such a comment off and not let it get to my head. Most of the time I wish people would leave me alone. I mean, I like girls and all, but I don't revel in their attention like that's all there is in life. I don't have the time to worry about it. (Although I will secretly admit that I don't mind the thought of Miss Tartaglia fawning over me...this is the wrong place for such thoughts.) If anything, it pisses me off when people point out my looks.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

I immediately think of both Rei and Miss T, but mostly Rei, causing me to choke on my soda.

"No," I say in between coughs.

"Not yet? I'm surprised." Ayako smiles that innocent smile of hers and chuckles. Dad looks very irritated. "Surely it'd be easy for someone like you to find someone. With those looks, you'd almost have to. No sense in letting something good go to waste. If I were your mother, though, I'd send you to school with a bat!" Sure, but you're not my mother, so shove it, lady.

"He doesn't have time to worry about such things," Dad declares. "Between school and soccer he keeps too busy to think about a girlfriend. He can worry about that when he finishes school."

"I find it funny that you're deciding what goes on in my life when you're barely even in it," I spit. "If I wanted a girlfriend I could get one, no problem. It's not that I don't have the time." He's kinda right, though. If I didn't have to maintain a B average, I'd have a lot more time for flirting and picking up chicks. I could feasibly do it, but if I did I'd have no time for myself. I force myself to eat a dry piece of bread.

"Like I _said_," Dad pauses to glare at me, "he doesn't need to be worried about it. He's doing fine right now."

Ayako laughs again. "You two bicker like an old married couple."

"Ayako-san, can I ask you something?" I ask after clearing my throat.

"Go ahead, Tatsuya."

"Do you have any kids of your own?" It feels like a really forward question to ask, but I have to ask it.

"Mmhm. Two daughters. Twins. Their names are Ai and Chiaki, and they're twelve."

Where are they? How come they didn't join in on this little outing?

"_They're living with their father in Ottawa right now."_

I look at Ayako long and hard. It didn't seem like she said anything, but I think I heard her. Kind of like how I hear Rei.

"Tatsuya? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ayako-san."

"You don't have to call me -san. Ayako is fine."

"Ayako." This is weird. Really weird.

* * *

I flop down on my bed, putting on headphones and listening to some L'Arc. I've decided that Ayako is a nice woman, but she's making me feel bad about my own mother. She's so kind and polite and she looks like she could be royalty or nobility. Just not snooty or condescending. Or maybe that nice lady in your neighborhood who always set out fresh baked cookies and glasses of milk for all the kids on the block to have and gave out full sized candy bars on Halloween. My mom is kind of like that, but could she have competed with Ayako back in the day? Did she do to my dad what Ayako is doing now? I mean, a woman like that is a dream come true for family life, and I know that my dad wants to start another family.

Moving on sucks.

On my back I air guitar along to amazing riffs in the music right when Aunt Takako opens my door.

"Tacchan!" She stifles a giggle. "Someone's here to see you!"

Flustered, I cease pretending to be Hyde immediately and pull off my headphones.

"Don't you know how to knock?!"

"I did, but you didn't hear me."

Shrugging, I pick myself up and stumble down the stairs and I see Rei standing in the foyer, letting Holmes paw at her and lick her hands. I blink several times and do a triple take just to make sure I'm seeing the right person. When I'm sure I'm not dreaming (I even pinch myself to make sure), I call Holmes off of her. She smiles a minuscule smile at me.

"Tacchan is a cute name for you." Her voice is meek and cautious, sort of like it is in English class. A very faint smile plays on her lips.

"Erm..uh..." Cue furious blushing. "Um, what's up?"

"I need help. With English."

"On what?" Slowly, the heat fades away and I gain a bit of composure. "Poetry's pretty easy. I can help you with whatever."

"I just need you to catch me up on it. I missed a lot last week." She looks down at the floor and very meticulously slips her feet out of her shoes. "You see, I stupidly asked Shige if he could help me, and he said to see you." Hm. She _did_ end up ditching English a couple of times, didn't she?

"Alright then. Just let me run upstairs really quick and I'll get my notes –"

"And I wanted to apologize, too."

"Huh?"

"For the other day when I yelled at you. I didn't really apologize properly."

"No, it's fine," I say. "I have to say that you confused me a bit, but I'm fine. It's not bothering me or anything. Don't feel bad."

"That's good to hear." Her smile widens, and she really is kind of pretty. She could be an Ayako if you give her a few more years and something for that chemical imbalance in her head.

"So. English. Be right back." I run up to my room three stairs at a time and shuffle through my book bag, feeling initially happy that Rei is being civil with me, but that feeling fades into frustration. I know I have the damn spiral in here. It's red to match the book cover I put on the textbook. (Lame habit #1: I color code my book covers and notebooks). It _has_ to be here.

It's not in my bag. It's not on my desk. It's not under my bed. I look twice thinking maybe the dog shoved it underneath there unwittingly, but it's nowhere to be found. Disappointed, I sulk my way back down to deliver the bad news.

"I left my notebook in my locker. Sorry, Rei."

"It's alright. Maybe I'll ask Sho and –"

"Oh, no. Don't ask him," I advise her. "He's as bad as Shige. He never takes notes, and most of the time he'll be sleeping through the class – even past the bell!"

"I see," she says with a giggle. "Well, then..."

"You can stay if you want, though," I offer. "I don't have anything planned for today, really. Making it past an awkward as hell lunch with my dad and his fiancée was enough for me."

"Thank you." Her green eyes glitter almost. I lead her into the kitchen (with Holmes following us) where Takako is on the phone. "Is that your mom?"

"No." I stifle a slight laugh and shake my head. "That's my aunt Takako. My aunt Yuriko lives with us, too."

She nods and whispers, "I see. It makes sense, then."

"What does?"

"Why you're so pretty. You live with three women. You can find out everything you need to know about grooming and upkeep." This time we both have to fight ourselves, and Takako notices.

"Are you talking about me, Tacchan? 'Cause I can hear you, you know."

"No we aren't," I say in between struggling outbursts.

"Uh-huh." Her words drip with sarcasm. "Right. Either way, keep it down. I'm on the phone. Kids..."

"Whatever you say, Taka." Rolling my eyes, I return my attention to Rei. "Want anything? Something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine." She smiles at me again. "Thank you, though."

Through the kitchen, we head outside onto the deck, with Holmes following us. As soon as I push the sliding door shut, he scrambles off to find a stick, itching to play fetch. Rei and I sit down on the steps, watching my dog lumber around the yard goofily.

"Your dog is a cutie," she comments. "Holmes is his name? Who's the Sherlock Holmes fan in the house?"

"Me." My face flushes a bit. "I had been watching Sherlock Holmes cartoons around the time I got him. And since he was _my_ Christmas gift, I got to name him. So I named him Holmes. It's kind of ironic, though, because my dog isn't the brightest light on the Christmas tree."

She laughs a fluttery, genuine laugh. "Dogs can be like that. I remember Char was like that."

"Char?"

"My dad's dog. He was a husky, and he had a sister named Sayla." Rei sighs with nostalgia, looking past me. "When my dad was a kid, he wanted to direct anime. He was a big Gundam fan. Before Char and Sayla, he had a dog named Amuro."

"That's...kinda funny." I laugh to myself.

"Yeah...he was a real geek, but he was still nice. I miss him."

"Where is he?" I ask, not thinking about the chance that I might be treading on thin ice.

"Tokyo."

"Oh..."

"My mom rarely lets me see him."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Rei flashes me a reassuring smile, but it doesn't do much to reassure me. "I'm supposed to be happy with my stepfather because he makes a lot more money and doesn't have his head in the clouds; plus he can speak English without a thick, crippling accent. That's what my mom says, at least."

"You don't like him?"

"I hate him."

At that moment, after finally finding a suitable stick, Holmes bounds up to Rei and drops a drool-drenched tree limb in her lap. She picks the stick up between two fingers and gives it a good throw, sending the dog away.

"He's a slobber factory, isn't he?" I laugh while watching Rei brush the drool off of her jeans. At the same time I can't help noticing that she has pretty nice legs.

"It doesn't bother me. Dogs' mouths are pretty clean anyway. It's why they can eat things off of the ground and not get sick." She crosses her legs and waits for Holmes to come back with the stick. "They've got enzymes in their spit that we don't have."

"Mmhm."

"My face is up here, Tatsuya."

"Huh?"

"Look up." Rei snaps her fingers, and I lift my head in time to see her roll her eyes and pitch the stick again. Without realizing it, my eyes were too busy following her curves than following the conversation. Just great.

"What?" I sputter stupidly.

"You're so predictable. Like you've never seen a girl before." She laughs. "I don't know how Miss Tartaglia puts up with it."

"Puts up with what?"

"Guys like _you_. Guys who are only interested in one thing."

"I am _so_ not like that!" God, why is she putting me on the spot like this? Whatever happened to being a respectful guest?

_All of a sudden Perfect Tatsuya isn't so perfect, now is he?_

"Really? Because you had me fooled. I mean, it's no big secret that you're hot for her. Every single guy in the tenth grade is. The only ones who aren't are gay." A malicious grin plays on Rei's lips. She's getting to me, and she knows it.

"I mean...I think she's pretty and all, but..." Liar. Ayako is pretty. Rei is pretty. Miss Tartaglia is _smoking hot_. There's no denying that.

"You're a bad liar." It's kind of humiliating to have Rei laughing at me, but I suffer through it. "She kinda likes you, though. She thinks you're a 'good kid,' if a little unmotivated."

Unmotivated? Me? English is my best class, effort wise!

"How do you know?"

"I hear her think that every day in English."

"...You _heard_ her think that?" My mind is reeling in disbelief. "Don't you mean say?"

"No, I mean think." Another grin.

"Th-that's impossible!"

"She probably likes it, though." Rei continues on in a different direction. I may as well have said nothing. "A bunch of horny teenagers staring her up and down like she's some kind of sex goddess. I personally find it repulsive, but maybe it's different for teachers. Or maybe just for her. She probably knows that she has every straight guy in that school wrapped around her pinkie finger, and that makes her feel powerful."

My face turns ghostly white. I do _not_ like the turn this conversation has taken... Okay, maybe I like it a _little bit._ Not a whole lot, though. It's mostly mortifying, and I don't like to think that anyone has me wrapped around their pinkie finger. I like to think I'm my own man, even at sixteen.

"Jesus, Tatsuya, calm down!" She giggles. I swear this girl has a chemical imbalance. Either that or she's high right now. This can't be the same person who almost beat me up the other day who was also so very polite in my foyer a few minutes earlier. Already we're talking about sex as if I'm one of her girls. Which I'm _not_. I just don't know how to tell her that. "Shige's right about you. You need to lighten up. You have a major stick shoved up your arse."

"So you talk to Shige now?" I question.

"No. But I hear him."

I don't really have a comeback for this, for two reasons: one, Shige is generally loud once you get him started and he'll say anything and everything for the whole world to hear; two, I don't particularly want to hear her bipolar ramblings on how she hears voices.

_But I _do_ hear voices. You hear them, too._

"...Did you say something, Rei?" I ask, but she just chuckles. I could have sworn I just heard her say something, but I was kinda spaced out worrying about whether or not I let a lunatic into my house or not. Maybe _I'm_ the lunatic being so paranoid. Maybe I have an anxiety disorder, like I'm schizophrenic or something.

_You don't._

It happened again, and this time I _know_ I heard Rei. But her mouth didn't move. It's still shaped in that same knowing smirk. For a moment, pure horror floods through me because I don't know what the hell's going on, but I do know it has something to do with her. And she's fucking with me.

_General rule of thumb: If you start to suspect that you're going insane, you're probably not. Most mental illnesses mess with your self evaluation.  
_

...What?

"Congratulations, Mizuno-san," Rei declares. "You just learned something new about both me and yourself."


	6. Understand

**Understand**

She explained it all to me – all of it that she could understand. Rei told me how to her, people's thoughts come in at different volumes and different levels of clarity. They're most understandable when the emotions of the person she's listening to are at a high. It's like every radio station is turned on at the same time to her. I don't have that same level of awareness, but I'm aware of her. I _hear_ her thoughts. And she takes advantage of that. She talks to me telepathically.

It feels like I've been hit in the face by a ton of bricks.

At school, Rei and I don't talk. She sits alone at her table at lunch and I sit with Shige and Sho like always. She looks at me, but she says nothing. I nod in her direction very faintly, and she understands. Understands what, I don't know. But she seems to understand. Thankfully, my two knuckleheads for friends don't notice the exchange. Neither does anyone else.

Outside of school is a different story. While the sun is still up after I get through with soccer practice, Rei spends the afternoon/evening at my house. We sit on the deck again, watching the leaves slowly start to turn and BS English homework together. I help her with algebra. She gives me answers to English questions and explains why she thinks something is the way it is. We share pictures we've taken with our phones. She puts her number and her screen name in my phone. I do the same with hers. We don't talk about what she said on Sunday, and I can't bring myself to ask any questions about it. It feels like a taboo. Instead, we play with Holmes for a bit, then talk about people we know. Teachers who piss us off. Other kids who are either really nice or really mean. Or really dumb. Even though she probably knows bits and pieces about my life, I tell her about my parents – how my dad played soccer and he had the same idea for me. How I didn't want him controlling my future and living through me. The divorce that followed afterward. A custody battle. My dad remarrying and why I question his motives. Things I usually don't like to think about – let alone talk about – mostly because I don't want people taking pity on me.

"I'm sorry about your parents," she whispers. "I understand how that feels, having your parents fight and then your entire family as you know it break apart. It happened with my parents, and I don't think I've forgiven either of them, really."

"What happened?"

"My mom got bored with my dad," Rei answers in monotone. "She wanted to move back to Canada. My dad wanted to stay in Tokyo because of his job. They also disagreed about my brother. He didn't act like the other boys. My mom thought he was too girly, which my dad found ironic. Dad said Shuuya was fine the way he was, and that we shouldn't try to force him to be anything other than himself. Eventually Mom got fed up and she filed for divorce. She got custody of both me and Shuuya, and she moved to Toronto with us. We rarely got to see our dad. Just during summer vacation if he wasn't swamped with a project."

"What does your dad do?"

"He directs anime." Her face betrays her pleasure at the thought. "Since he was a kid he loved anime and wanted to direct it. That's kind of how my parents met. It sounds really geeky, but it's true. My mom came to Japan to teach English, and after a year she married my dad." A small giggle. It gives me butterflies in my stomach to hear it. "My dad never outgrew his thing for anime, but my mom did. She told him to grow up and man up, and my dad didn't, according to her. She blames him for Shuuya being gay, which is stupid."

"Where's your brother right now?"

"The cemetery," she says flatly. "He swallowed a bottle of aspirin and slashed his wrists. I found him in the bathroom. It was a couple of years ago. Shortly after my mom remarried." A single tear slips down her cheek.

"Oh my God..." You stupid, _stupid_ jerk! You made her cry! "I'm so sorry, Rei. I..I-I didn't know."

"Don't beat yourself up." She sniffles and brushes the tear away roughly with her sleeve. "I don't tell a lot of people about my brother. It wasn't just my mom who didn't accept him. My step dad, a bunch of my friends, people in school. They all ridiculed him behind his back. Alyssa – my half sister – and I didn't, but we were the only ones." A long pause as she chokes back a sob. I want to tell her she doesn't have to go on, but my own throat has a lump in it. Words won't come out for the life of me. "Once he wore a small bit of eyeliner to school and he came home with a bunch of bruises and a black eye. My step dad said he had it coming. My mom confiscated all of his makeup, but he just wound up borrowing mine. Eventually he started spending less time at home, and soon he stopped coming home altogether. Mom called the police, they dragged him home, Mom forced him to go to therapy to deal with his 'disorder,' and soon his depression got worse. Then one day, after school, he decided to do it." Her crying is uncontrollable now. She buries her face in her hands, glasses and all, and I carefully wrap my arm around her shoulders. "I stopped believing in people after that. There was just no point. It was people who did this to my brother. People who claimed to love him."

"I have to say you have me beat," I force myself to chuckle even though it's inappropriate. Rei pulls her glasses off and looks up at me, and for the first time I really see her face. I mean really see it – the tiredness, the sadness. For the first time I notice that her eyes are glassy and pained, and I see dark circles under them. She doesn't sleep much. There are small indents on the bridge of her nose where her glasses sit. She's biting her lip, tearing dried skin off of it. Black streams of tear-diluted makeup stain her cheeks. I want more than anything to hold her as tightly as I can and tell her it'll be okay, but I'm not sure if I believe it myself. I feel so damn bad about it. So _guilty_ because I can't do anything for her. It's not like I can bring her brother back.

"Even before that, though, I wasn't happy at home. I tried running away, too, but the police found me quickly and brought me home. I kind of feel like my home is still in Tokyo, though, with my dad. At least there I know _someone_ loves me." She sighs. "I couldn't go back to Japan, though. I'd be better off finishing high school first."

"I...I'm so _sorry_, Rei. I don't know what to say."

"Stop apologizing. It's not your fault." She pauses to sniffle, then she gazes up at me. "You're actually kind of nice. Nicer than I expected you to be. I'm not sure why I feel like I can trust you so much, but I do." Through her pain, Rei smiles the smallest smile in the world. "I'm glad you listened to me."

"And I'm glad you trust me," I answer, smiling back. She giggles her soft, airy giggle, and my stomach does a roundoff. Why do I feel like this?

* * *

The next day, Rei does something I sort of didn't expect. She sits next to me at lunch. It didn't bother me, or anything. It just caught me off guard.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Tatsuya?" she asks. "Aren't we friends?"

"Oh, we are." I'm quick to assure her because I sort of _want_ to be friends with her, even if she's loony. She needs a friend. "It's just that in school you usually keep to yourself."

"I felt like a change," Rei declares simply.

Jamie Hammond and her flock of sheeple pass by us and sit at the table behind Rei and me. Desiree is among them. She flashes a death glare in our direction.

Sho and Shige act like nothing's changed. Everything's normal as it should be even though an unfairly dubbed social outcast has joined us. Even though a _girl_ has joined us. I'm glad that they're not being obnoxious about it, though. I thought I'd have to knock Shige's block off for making fun of me, or wrongly accusing me of being in love with Rei. I'm not. I just care about her is all. I'm...concerned. And she's really quite nice once you get her to open up.

She gives them the more kid friendly version of her past – living in Japan, her dad directing anime, and her mom remarrying and that's how she wound up in Canada. Nothing about her brother or her step dad being an asshole. She gets through it without crying. No worries about streaks of mascara today. I offer her an encouraging smile.

"That's really cool about your dad." Sheer amazement is plastered on Sho's face. "He must be a really cool guy. I always wanted to meet an anime director!"

"Geek!" Shige pretends to cough. Sho's completely oblivious.

"Yeah, he is..." Rei looks rather wistful. "He sends me DVDs for my birthday and Christmas. Sometimes some CDs too. It's better than importing."

"Lucky!"

"I wish I could live with him, though." Rei sighs.

"So I heard it's supposed to rain on Saturday," I quickly interrupt. I'm praying to God that Rei doesn't break down, mostly because I will along with her if she does. "It's gonna suck if it rains during our game. Playing in the mud is a bitch."

"I always get so tired playing in the mud. It's kinda fun, but you have to kick the ball so much harder." Sho breaks away from his fantasies of anime and manga straight out of Japan.

"It's a strain on your twelve year old legs, isn't it?" Shige is rewarded with a nudge in the ribs. "Come on puppy, admit it. You're not really fifteen. You're lying. Your birth certificate is forged!"

"I am _so_ fifteen!" He kinda sounds like a little kid. "I'm older than you!"

"Just because your birthday is a few months before mine, it doesn't mean we were born in the same year."

"You know, Shige," Rei starts, her lips curled in a playful grin, "most people would argue you're a kid who's just big for your age and hit puberty early. You sure act like it."

"Yeah, when's your birthday?" I can't help but join in.

"You know my birthday, Tatsubon. It's July 8th."

"Of what year?"

"...Every year."

Sho and Rei laugh while Shige smirks smugly. He thinks he's clever. He actually kind of is. He just chooses not to act like it.

For a while it feels kind of nice with all four of us at the table, like we've been sitting together our whole lives – best friends since birth. It's amazing how quickly Rei amalgamated herself into our group and made it feel so natural. The only thing reminding us that it wasn't always so is the icy glares I know are pointed in our direction.

When the period ends, Jamie "accidentally" trips Rei. I catch her, my arm right underneath her boobs. Soft. Warm. We both blush and then walk away once I let go of her. It's weird. And in English we don't look at each other. It's like things went back to square one when she ignored me and I ignored her.

Once, for a split second, we make eye contact in the middle of Miss Tartaglia's lesson. She smiles at me meekly, and my stomach flutters again. Why does she _do_ that to me? What is it about her that trips me up so suddenly? My face heats up. I try not to think about either her or Miss T, but it's hard. Miss T's looks do everything _but_ discourage attention, but with Rei sitting in the same room I get conflicted – like I don't want to upset her. But why should it matter? We're just friends. Unlikely friends, but friends nonetheless. I draw squiggles in the margins of my notes, trying to distract myself.

* * *

I'm curled up on my bed forcing myself to read a tedious section in my chem book. I haven't made it past the first page. I keep reading a paragraph, forgetting what I just read, and going back to reading it again. I should give up for the moment, but it's late and I won't get back to it before third hour tomorrow. And chemistry for me is third hour. Fuck.

My phone chirps and vibrates across my night stand. The screen flashes "Incoming Call" with Rei's name. I answer.

"What's up?" I picked up expecting to hear Rei, but instead I hear an eight year old's voice.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"I should be asking that," I say in my best kid-friendly voice. I don't get to practice this much. I'm going to go out on a limb here. "Is this Alyssa?"

"How'd you know?! Are you psycho or something?!"

"You mean psychic, and no. Rei told me about you."

"There's no Ray here. But Evan's here. Wanna talk to her?"

In the background I hear Rei chastising her little sister, and she snatches the phone out of her hands.

"Sorry about that. My sister likes playing with my phone." She's breathing heavily. There must be a lot of commotion over there.

"That's alright. I understand." Really, I don't, but she can't hear my thoughts over the phone. Just what I say. "You sound busy."

"Just a bit. Alyssa's being a pain today."

The eight year old voice shouts "Am not!" in the background. I laugh.

"It's times like these when I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Not for long though!"

"Don't remind me. I shudder thinking about my dad procreating at his age. I don't know what Ayako sees in him."

"Don't look at me. I don't know either."

There's an awkward silence that follows. I'm still thinking about lunch. The accidental boob brushing. More than that, the fact that she could read my mind like an open book – or listen to it, more like an audio book. She knows that I didn't entirely dislike what happened. I don't think she did, either, or else she would have said something to me. She certainly hasn't failed to say when she's mad at me before.

"Rei, about –"

"Are you doing anything right now?" she cuts me off. I guess what happened earlier is bothering her, too. I stare down at my chemistry book and snap it closed.

"No. Why?"

"I might come over again today." Another pause. "I need to get out of this house."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Alright. Thanks." The line goes dead.

* * *

Takako and Yuriko look at us funny as they pass through. Rei and I are playing Crazy Eights at the kitchen table. She's oddly silent. I'm not used to her being quiet around me – not when it's just us. Never when it's just us. For three hands we play in silence, and each time she beats the pants off of me. The girl is a card shark, and when she's playing her face betrays no emotion. None. It's like she's a life-sized china doll dressed up like an emo kid: cold, lifeless, and man made.

"Are you okay?" I ask as she gathers up the deck. Rei inadvertently pushes up her too-large sleeves, and I catch a glimpse of white scar tissue.

"I'm fine." Her tone is as inhuman as her behavior. It's scaring me.

"Your....your arm?"

"What about it?" She glances down at it and pulls the sleeve down. "It's fine."

"Oh..but–"

"It's _fine_."

I shut my trap. We play another uninspired hand of crazy eights before I throw down my cards in boredom.

"What's wrong?" she asks innocently.

"You're really quiet today."

"I'm always quiet."

"Not around me. You usually have a lot to say."

"Not today." Rei refuses to make eye contact with me. She's being difficult.

"Why not?"

"Because there's nothing I feel like talking about."

Deafening silence. I swear I can hear the chemical reactions going on inside of me. It's so infuriating, and I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with her.

"This is weird," I grumble.

"What is?"

"..._This_." Isn't it obvious what I'm talking about? "It feels like you're upset with me about earlier."

"Why would I be mad?" She asks it so innocently, I'm really starting to think she didn't notice, but part of me is convinced she knows. She just doesn't want to talk about it.

"I just thought...that maybe..uh...forget it." Uncontrollable blushing starts now. I can't help myself. It's too embarrassing to say to her. It's too much for me to even _think_ about, which is ironic. Why does the boob accident bother me but not ogling Miss Tartaglia? What's so different about Rei? Is it that she knows what I'm thinking? Or is it something else?

"You're kinda cute when you blush, Tatsuya." She giggles that airy, light giggle she has.

"Just like you're cute when you throw tantrums." Those cursed words spill out before I can stop them, once again. This time, though, Rei smiles. My guts won't stop fluttering. Her cheeks are tinged with a slight shade of pink; she lives.

For the longest time we just stare at each other, gazing into each others' eyes. Sharp, clear, refreshing green meeting my plain, boring brown. A sort of electricity I've never felt before floods through me, and I unconsciously reach for her hand. It's cold, clammy, and small inside mine. It's easy to forget that compared to me, Rei is tiny and fragile. Most of the time, around me at least, she acts like she has a slight Napoleon complex. She doesn't think about being short and skinny.

"Do I make you nervous?" I ask.

"No. Why?"

"You're sweating." I think I'm starting to sweat a little, too. "Your hand."

"Oh." She doesn't seem to be worried with what I just said. "You're sweating, too."

"Oh..."

We're still gazing like we're in a stupor, and I can't let go of her. My mind is screaming for me to do it just to prove that I can, but my hand is lifeless, permanently clamped around Rei's hand. I study her small, round, face, and for the first time I notice that her lips are very pouty and parted slightly. They're the kind of lips I'd like to kiss, but with Rei that's going a bit far. I barely know her. Of course, in the past this hasn't stopped me. There are a few incidents where I've kissed girls I barely knew – mostly at parties. Never like this, though. Even still, I'm leaning in, slowly and deliberately, yet I can't help it. I just want to...

"You're fogging up my glasses, Tatsuya," Rei points out with a chuckle. She doesn't push me away, though, and her breath tickles my nose. My lips curl into a small smirk and then very gently I press them against her mouth, closing my eyes. The electricity running through me multiplies a hundred fold and...I think I'm getting _turned on_. I completely wasn't expecting that...okay, maybe I was expecting it a little bit. A small part of me did, but most of me was completely taken aback.

She pulls away.

"Is something wrong?" I still haven't let go of her.

"Someone's calling me," Rei whispers.

I watch as she pulls her cell phone (seemingly) out of thin air and answers its vibrating alert. Her voice is suddenly meek and subdued, and I'm so drawn to finding out what it is that's going on. It might be nothing; it might be critical. It shouldn't be any of my business and yet I want it to be. I want to be such and important part of her. Why?

"I have to go now, Tatsuya," she tells me, closing the lid of her phone slowly. Rei looks disappointed at the news, and I can feel that disappointment in my gut. "My step dad wants me home. Something about watching Alyssa while he and my mom go out. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine!" I'm quick to reassure her. "Really, um...I guess...I'll see you tomorrow?"

She smiles. "Sounds good."

I walk her to my front door and she acts as humbly as the first time she ever came over. We mumble our goodbyes, me feeling a little let down that we didn't get to go further, and as I open the door for her she turns around and smiles at me.

"By the way, you really are a good kisser."

Cue face heating up. Before I even start to stammer something embarrassing, Rei stands up on her tip toes and pecks me softly on the lips. Lord knows I want to tell her something along the lines of "you aren't so bad yourself." Even though it's not the greatest line in the world, at least it would be _something_. But alas, the words don't come out. Rei just waves goodbye and starts walking home. I'm a little scared to let her leave this late, but she got here with no worries. Eventually I ease myself into believing she'll be fine.

Oh, if only I knew how wrong I was.


	7. Coming Home

**Coming Home**

I woke up at seven like I usually do, brushed my teeth, combed my hair, checked my phone, and left with my heavy as hell backpack like I usually do, with Mom shoving my lunch in a paper bag and handing it to me on my way out. I almost feel bad that she's still packing my lunch, but I don't complain. It's nice to know that she cares. I arrive at my locker, shove some unneeded textbooks inside, close it, and look up to see Desiree leaning against the lockers by mine. To be honest, I smelled her makeup and perfume before I saw her.

"Hi, Tatsuya!" She greets me with a coy, lip gloss skirted smile.

"Hi." I try not to make a big deal out of it. She wouldn't be the first girl who's tried to flirt with me. The thing is after last night, I wonder if I should be treating it so casually. "What's up?" I notice her eyes lighting up. Maybe asking her what's up wasn't such a good idea. She thinks I'm interested.

"Oh, nothing much. Just the same old, same old." It's cute how she thinks since we've been partners in French that now she thinks we're pals outside the classroom. Not so. "I just wanted to see how you were, that's all."

"Well, that's nice of you." I really want to put some bitter sarcasm in my voice, but I just can't be rude to a girl.

"I figured it's the least I could do."

"What makes you say that?" Just shut _up_. Should Rei see you right now – that's odd. Rei's locker is very near mine, and I don't see her around anywhere. I crane my neck over heads and clusters of people to find her, but there's no sign of her.

"I mean, we're friends, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And you've been acting differently." Finally, she gets to the point. Or, at least, in the vicinity of the point.

"How so?"

"For one, you're ignoring me!" Desiree tugs on my shirt sleeve sharply, and I face her.

"What?! What is it with you?"

"I'm trying to tell you something!"

"Well, then tell me. I'm listening, Dessie." Mistake number two: calling her "Dessie."

"Are you friends with Rei or something?" she asks me in an accusing way, like my mother would ask me if I've been smoking or drinking.

"...Yeah, you could say that," I tell her. I mean, it was only the one time we kissed. And that goodbye kiss counts together with the first one as one time. I think.

"It's a yes or no question."

"Yes, I'm friends with her." My eyes wander again. Where is she?

"So then, it wouldn't be asking too much if I asked you to take me to Homecoming?"

"Wait, what?!" Once again it feels like someone just whaled on me with brass knuckles. How could I forget something like Homecoming?! Even if I don't like dressing up in monkey suits and escorting a girl who's infatuated with me to a school sponsored dance, it's mandatory that star athletes attend Homecoming. Yet it was the last thing on my mind – which is unacceptable because we jocks and preps are required to prepare for these things weeks ahead of time. I didn't.

"Homecoming. Will you take me?"

"Will you take me?" not "Do you want to go with me?" or "Are you going with anyone to Homecoming this year?" It's like I'm giving her a ride there with my imaginary license and pretend car. I scratch the back of my head nervously.

"I...don't think I'm–" Shige drifts into my peripheral vision, and he has that same mischievous grin on his face. "–I don't think I'm going this year."

"Whaaaaat?!" Desiree nearly screams it. "You're not _going_?! Why not?!"

"I went last year, and really it was kinda boring." That isn't a total lie. The dance itself was quite boring. My date however...she was interesting up until the point where she told me she was saving herself for marriage. Lord knows I wanted to tell her to not back her ass into me _repeatedly_ then, but I didn't. I just went home lonely and disappointed.

"Please go with me?"

"I don't know..." At least she said please this time.

Now, the prospect of going with Desiree isn't entirely bad. She's definitely stacked, and word on the grapevine is that she has fewer inhibitions than some girls. Fewer than most, actually. While that has its advantages, I'd have to put up with someone who has very little independence and thinks happiness is in the bank account – not to mention her possibly abandoning me to squeal with her "friends" and brag about how hot her date is and how lucky she was that he said yes... Sensible, good boy Tatsuya wants to stand by my decision of no and possibly considers asking Rei (which might be asking for death depending on what mood I catch her in), but irrational, impulsive, hormonal Tatsuya is saying that Desiree is practically offering herself to me and I should take the shot. Sensible Tatsuya rebuts saying that Desiree isn't really all that hard to get – work your charm the right way and she'll jump into your lap any day of the week day or night rain or shine. But hormonal Tatsuya wants her _now_. In fact, he'd be willing to take her before Homecoming if there was an out of the way, empty bathroom in the vicinity. There isn't. I'm so conflicted.

"Y-ye..." Yes! Say yes! You won't regret it! "Umm...er..." No! Say no! You don't need Rei ridiculing the yellow off of you. "Uhh...I'll think about it." Both sides of my argument yell at me, but that's my decision. It's not really much of a decision, but it gives Desiree the illusion of hope.

"Thank you!" For what, I don't know, but she makes a bold move and kisses me on the cheek. My face heats up like it normally does when someone kisses me, but it's different from Rei's. Rei's has more meaning.

Shige saunters over and claps me on the back roughly. "Hooking up with Chezric, are we?"

"No," I mumble. "She just wanted to go to Homecoming with me."

"...You said 'yes,' right? I mean, a girl asking you to go to Homecoming means she's looking to get into your..." he pretends to cough "...jeans."

"I said I would think about it." It sounds so stupid now. So very stupid. Why did I say that?

"What?!" This time Shige attracts the attention of nearly everyone in the hallway. I try looking for her again even though I know it's fruitless. I even sneak her a text from behind my world history textbook. "How the hell could you _not_ say yes to her?! I would have!"

"Shige, hearing that from you is in _no way_ encouraging. What experience do you have with girls? All the ones you've seen naked are on screens." I sigh heavily.

"Don't you listen to yourself when you talk?" He grabs me by the collar and shakes me a bit. "If you don't say yes to a girl when she asks you out, it means you're a fucking homo. And you know what they say about good looking Japanese men."

"I know, I know, I know! We don't look all that manly, now let go of me." Irritated, I push him away. "I wasn't even going to go to the stupid Homecoming dance in the first place."

Cue mock gasp from Shige. "That's _blasphemy!_"

"Why? You never went to Homecoming."

"Because my date and I had more important things to do." Which means he couldn't find a date in time. I don't say this aloud, though.

"If you say so."

"All I'm saying is that if you turned Dessie down, it _has_ to be because you're going with someone else. Someone better." Someone better...

I check my phone. Rei hasn't answered me. For some reason it kind of hurts.

* * *

The first four classes of my day slide by uneventfully. I was completely lost in chemistry (at no one's fault but my own), I tune out my world history teacher, and I give half effort at best in gym. I don't feel like being overachiever Tatsuya today. In French, Desiree keeps staring at me dreamily, and being a bit too obvious about it, too. Every once in a while she'll smirk and wink at me. I try not to give her the satisfaction of a response, but I'm not sure if I was successful. Something about my face must have given me away. The fact is I don't dislike Dessie, and last year I had a small crush on her. She just gets annoying, though. And to be perfectly honest, she isn't the brightest crayon in the box. She's a little lazy, too. On more than one occasion she's asked to see my homework. Of course she does; plenty of people do. I'm the good looking, athletic, borderline genius Asian kid. I'm the perfect go-to guy for anything school related because my parents are the stereotypical Asian parents who set unrealistic academic goals for their son and send him to prep school at night. (Naturally, my parents _aren't_ like that, but people like to assume it.)

It's times like these when I hate being me.

French ends awkwardly on my part, and I'm the first out the door before Desiree can catch up to me. I really don't want to talk to her. I just want to go to lunch and see Rei. It's times like these when other people in the halls annoy me for being incredulously slow, but I try hard to keep my cool. There's no need to blow up because I'm trying to avoid someone. On my way to lunch, I run into Rei.

Quite literally, I run into Rei.

I'm a little dazed as I try to pick up all of my books and Rei scrambles to collect hers. The sleeves on her hoodie run up and I catch a better look at her scars. More like I stare at them. I don't mean to, but they're just..._there_. And some of them were new with brown scabs instead of dead white skin. My original suspicions were confirmed – she _does_ cut herself. Instead of jumping down my throat, like I expected her to do, she quickly hides her arms beneath oversized sleeves and starts to walk away with her books. I stop her.

"Hey, wait a minute!" I grab her shoulder and turn her around to face me. "So out of nowhere you're not talking to me?!" I know I sound angrier than I feel, but I'm worried.

"Leave me alone," she says, looking down to the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Rei pauses for a moment, then repeats herself as if to convince herself more than me. "It's nothing, I promise. I'm just not in a good mood today." Evidently.

"Care to talk about it?"

"Not really."

We stand there silently, long after the bell rings. I want to say something, but I know what she's thinking, and I should just walk away. She wants me to, but I can't. I want to figure out what's wrong with her and why she's acting completely different today. I'm almost sure it has something to do with last night, but I don't know if it's something I did. A guilty part of me wants to kiss her, but I shove those thoughts into the back of my mind.

_He can see me, can't he? He can see what I did last night. He hates me for it._

"I don't hate you." I'm not sure if I thought it or said it, but it doesn't matter. Rei got the message. She looks ready to cry – whether it's out of relief or fear or both, I'm not sure, but her bottom lip is trembling. Her face is pale. When I look closely I can see those dark circles. I don't mean to examine her so closely, but I can't help it. "You can tell me what happened."

"I...I can't. There's nothing to tell," she whispers.

"It's alright, you know." Rei shies away from me when I try to pat her shoulder to comfort her. "I'm not going to hurt you. You know I wouldn't do that." She still won't look at me. "You're going to lunch, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Come with me, then."

We walk down the now deserted hallways together, Rei close to me but not looking up at me. She must be really ashamed of something. I'm still not sure what, but I'm almost positive it's something that happened at home. Maybe with her stepfather? She said he's an asshole, but I've never met the man. I don't know what he's capable of, and something tells me I don't want to know.

"Why do you care so much about me?" she asks.

"Because I like you." It feels like a natural answer, and I'm almost surprised it's so easy to say it to her. "Does it bother you?"

"I don't get it. Why would someone like you like someone like me?"

"Maybe I see something in you that I don't see in the others." Another surprising answer. I'm starting to wonder myself why I'm so honest with her.

"Maybe you're fooling yourself. I'm nothing special."

"That's what I thought, too. I think I was wrong though." I begin to muse while we step carefully down the stairs. "I don't think a whole lot of people can hear other people's thoughts. And I don't think there's a whole lot of people I'd believe that from." A small smile on my part lifts a tiny bit of gloom from Rei's face. "I trust you. I normally don't trust anyone other than Sho and Shige."

"Oh...I suppose it would be rude of me to not trust you, then."

"I suppose," I start, "but there's no need for you to tell me anything if you don't feel ready to. Right? I don't want to force anything out of you, but I'm here if you need to talk." I sound like a regular nice guy, don't I?

"I appreciate that." Rei pauses for a long time. "You should probably be careful, though. You're going to Homecoming with Dessie, aren't you? She gets jealous easily."

Crap. I forgot about her _completely_.

"How did you know about that?"

"Anything involving her gets around fast." She laughs a little bit. A dry, uninspired laugh. "I should know. I was friends with her." Was. Past tense. Dessie said the same thing to me when she showed me that blog. My skin crawls a bit.

"I guess you're right."

Before I know it, we're right outside the cafeteria, and I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. I like walking and talking with Rei, even if she's a little hesitant to talk. Or scared. Or whatever. I like hearing her voice, and I like thinking that she's starting to trust me. I hope she does. I want her to.

"I really do appreciate this," she says. "You being nice to me. I'm not used to it is all."

"It's not a problem," I tell her, but inside it is. Hearing her say that nearly broke me. Why? "Dessie's probably already in there. I'll wait a few minutes after you go in before I do."

"Okay. Thank you, Tatsuya."

_Maybe sometime I'll tell you what happened. You know, I just might.

* * *

_

"Have you decided yet?" Desiree practically sits in my lap once I settle into my place at my table. God knows I want her to back the hell up, but Hormonal Tatsuya won't hear of it. He wants her, and he wants her bad. I'm constantly fighting with him to keep from getting stiff. It's the last thing I need with Rei at the same table.

Tatsuya Mizuno, what on Earth have you gotten yourself into?

"Four hours isn't enough time for me to make a decision," I tell her, doing some last minute BS-ing to my algebra homework. "Don't you have something else to think about in the meantime?"

"Are you _nuts_?!" Once again, several people around us stare at me. "This is _Homecoming_ we're talking about! Why would I be thinking about anything else?!"

"Just a thought," I grumble. I steal a glance at Rei, and she's looking very uncomfortable. She tries to hide it by telling Sho more stories about her dad, but it's failing miserably. We all know she's hating this.

"I mean, you don't have anyone else you're thinking about going with, right?"

I immediately look up at Rei to see if that registered. Her mouth is slightly agape and she's looking at me, blushing. I half didn't expect it, but I think she was hoping I'd ask her. Not major staking her whole life on it hope, but a small sliver of hope. I feel like such an asshole.

"Like I said, I don't know. Just give me some time." A quick excuse flies into my head. If I can thank Dad for _anything_ other than providing half of my genetic material... "I don't even know if I _can_ go. I might have to see my dad that weekend."

"Tell your dad to reschedule then! Homecoming's more important!"

I swear, if anyone has a one track mind, it's Desiree. She is clinging to this for dear life.

"If you don't stop bugging me about it, then I won't go with you." Please, God, let her bug me a bit more.

"Fine." Desiree pouts.

"Well, Dessie, if Tatsubon here turns you down, I'll be happy to be your date!" Shige laughs, winking at her. Desiree pretends to be disgusted, but on closer inspection I realize that she's just being difficult for the sake of being difficult. I know she's seriously considering him as an insurance policy if I bail on her – which I probably will – because I can see her checking him out every now and then. Desiree. Checking him out. Checking _Shige_ out. I'm a little shocked by it, but like I said before, Desiree has fewer inhibitions than most.

"Tatsuya," Rei almost whispers, "did you do last night's English homework?"

"Hm? Yeah, why?"

"I need it. I was going to ask you last night, but..." Her face flushes, and mine heats up like the sun. A tiny piece of me remembers the feel of her lips brushing against mine, and I'd like to feel it again. Not here though.

"Oh! Sure, just a second." I fish for my notebook and slide it over her way. I catch Desiree throwing her a jealous glare. I'm about to fuck this up _so badly_.

"Thanks, Tacchan." Rei smiles for a quick second and then realizes that I _never_ go by that name in school. Ever. Shige learned that the hard way last year. "Oh! I'm sorry. It slipped."

"Don't worry about it," I mumble, scribbling in guessed answers for my own incomplete homework.

"Tacchan?" Desiree questions. "Is that your nickname?"

"I don't usually use it. It's mostly my aunts and my mom that call me that." Dear God, I only have one request: shoot me now.

"It's a cute nickname. I'll have to start calling you that."

Shige stares at me incredulously, very close to protesting, but my death glare shuts him up. There's another thing I'll have to thank my dad for if we ever stop warring with each other. I can threaten people wordlessly thanks to him. The good ole Kirihara Death Glare.

_Look at those two! What bitches! They're _both_ trying to get into Tatsuya's pants?!_

_I can't believe it. Dessie's betrayed us now, too?_

_I always knew she was a slut. I knew she'd side with Rei, too!_

It's really hard to not look behind me. I know they're there, and I know they're hating both Rei and Desiree right now. I want to ignore them, hopelessly believing that if I pay them no mind then they'll cease to exist. A quantum existence. Jamie sends that pipe dream crashing though, when she reaches around to tap Desiree on the shoulder.

"Dessie, can I see your planner for a second?" Jamie smiles a poisoned honey smile. Although I'm not a teenage girl, I'm well enough aware of the torturing techniques of Jamie Hammond and her Sheeple. And one of her Sheeple have strayed from the flock.

Desiree hesitates. She knows she's crossed the line. She's sitting at the same table as Rei, and she's being conspicuously inconspicuous about arousing me. She's trying to get her way too much.

"I'll ask you again. Dessie, can I see your planner for a second?" The smile fades a few teeth. She's getting impatient.

"Sure, Jamie." Desiree reaches into her designer purse and surrenders the notebook. The Sheeple laugh as Jamie turns around with it and gathers a few of them around. There's hushed whispering and the scritch-scratch of marker against paper, and within a few minutes the planner is returned, seemingly unscathed. We all know better than that, though. I catch a glimpse at one of the inner pages. A number of curse words in combinations I never would have thought up are all I see in the box for Tuesday. Desiree quickly shoves her planner into her purse and acts like nothing happened. But something very important happened: she's become the black sheeple.

Desiree has become Rei's replacement.

* * *

In English, Rei and I partner up and answer questions about a short story Miss T assigned. We don't talk openly about what happened at lunch because one of Jamie's head Sheeple is in here. She's an informer. Instead we talk through margins of our notes.

"_I'm sure you've heard odd rumors about me."_ Rei's handwriting is both jagged and loopy at the same time in an odd half cursive that looks like an adult's handwriting.

"_I hear lots of strange rumors about a lot of people. Comes with the territory,"_ I write back.

"_She started those rumors because someone thought I was trying to fuck the guy she wanted to ask out to Homecoming. I wasn't, but to be fair I would have had a better chance at getting him than she did."_

"_That's harsh."_

"_But it's true. He started talking to me because I was Jamie's 'pet,' so to speak, and according to his logic if anyone knew Jamie well, it was me. I told him I wasn't interested in him because of both Jamie and the fact that he was really kind of a prick."_

"_What happened?"_

"_He was trying to get me to sleep with him. One of Jamie's flunkies took a picture of us together when he had me pushed up against the lockers, trying to get me to make out with him. I kicked him where the sun doesn't shine, and he told Jamie that I came on to him, not the other way around. No one would believe me, so they started torturing me last year."_

Miss Tartaglia circles around the room, passing by us. Like a hopelessly loyal lap dog I lift my head and catch a whiff of her mature, sophisticated smell. I feel guilty about my slip, but it can't be helped. Sometimes a man can't resist a woman like her. When I look back down at my notebook, Rei has scribbled a new message:

"_Give up on her, Tacchan. She's out of your league, and she's off limits to students."_

"_Fuck you."_

"_No thanks, I don't do jocks. =P"_

We both laugh even though on the inside we're both put off. Very put off.


End file.
